An ex-con who became a surrogate son to celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover was charged with another man in the death of Joseph Comunale.

Bloody evidence, a burned body buried under a foot of earth and a botched coverup led authorities to charge two men with various crimes in the stabbing death of a guest after they partied at a luxury East Side apartment.

But neither is charged with killing Joseph Comunale. Investigators have no doubts Comunale was murdered, but did one of the suspects — or both — do it? That's the question they are working to answer.

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James Rackover, 25, a Florida ex-con who became a surrogate son to celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover, was charged Thursday with hindering prosecution, tampering with evidence, and concealing a corpse in the slaying of Comunale, 26. Prosecutors also hit Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City, with the same charges.

Police said the victim was stabbed in the chest 15 times.

Cops taking James Rackover (c.) to the 13th Precinct after being arrested Tuesday night for driving with a suspended license. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News)

His bludgeoned and partially burned body was found in a foot-deep grave along the Jersey Shore, police said.

"One or both of these people committed a murder," Assistant District Attorney Antoinette Carter said during an arraignment late Thursday for Rackover Dilione. Both men were ordered held on $3 million bond.

"We're treating this case as a homicide. Both of these defendants were seen in the basement adjusting the surveillance camera. Dilione is the last person who saw Joseph Comunale alive."

The bloodthirsty pair used a luggage rack to cart the body from the ritzy address, drove an hour south and tried to torch Comunale's bruised and broken corpse, according to sources.

Cops are still looking to question at least one other person, sources said.

Lawrence Dilione is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Joseph Comunale. (Alec Tabak for New York Daily News)

"You can't talk to him — he starts to cry," said longtime pal Bo Dietl, an ex-NYPD detective. "You know the old expression: No good deed goes unpunished. This is the perfect frigging example."

James was the son Jeffrey never had, Dietl said.

The younger Rackover's blood-spattered E. 59th St. home provided damning proof, as police recovered 32 pieces of evidence from the gory crime scene, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

James Rackover (r.) and Lawrence Dilione (l.) were arrested in connection to the death of Joseph Comunale. They're accused of burying his corpse in Oceanport, N.J. (Instagram)

There were bloodstains on the wall, and cops pulled the victim's clothes, along with sheets and towels, from trash bags tossed down a garbage chute.

The killers tried unsuccessfully to bleach the blood from Comunale's outfit, Boyce said.

The motive for the gut-wrenching attack remained under investigation, although sources indicated the killing occurred after Comunale rejected the sexual advances of one of the men inside the apartment.

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James Beaudoin, seen in arrest photos from 2007, 2009, and 2010. Beaudoin, who changed his name to James Rackover, has been arrested in the death of Joseph Comunale. (Broward County Sheriff's Office)

Both men clammed up after Dilione told cops where to find the body, prosecutors said. The pair are due back in court Monday.

The gasoline used in the attempt to burn Comunale's body was found as well, and the shallow grave where the Stamford, Conn., man was dumped is 1 mile from Dilione's old residence in Oceanport, N.J.

Boyce said officers were cutting down weeds in the remote wooded area where the body was found in hopes of turning up more evidence.

After Joseph Comunale's killers stabbed him to death, they set about covering up his death — but failed miserably, cops say. (Facebook)

An autopsy was performed at the Monmouth County coroner's office.

Comunale's father Pat told NBC News late Thursday, "It's horrific that another person can do this to an individual, and take a guy who was the most charismatic, funny guy — always the life of the party — never did steroids or anything else. And his friends can all attest to the type of individual he was."

A solemn-faced Rackover, his head down and his pompadoured hair just perfect, was led from the 13th Precinct stationhouse in handcuffs Thursday afternoon.

"I can't downplay the brutal nature of what happened to that body in New Jersey," he said. "These charges are just a place holder. I look forward to conducting our own investigation. I intend to vigorously contest these charges."

Sercarz said Rackover has worked at an insurance underwriting firm for the past year, and insisted he didn't flee.

James Rackover was home with friends beginning Saturday night watching the Ultimate Fighting pay-per-view event before going out to a Meatpacking District nightclub.

The front page of Friday's edition of the New York Daily News. (New York Daily News)

Comunale met his killers at the lounge and arrived at the apartment with three other men and three women around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Rackover was known as James Beaudoin when he was busted for a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., burglary in January 2009. He did time from 2012 to 2013 on the burglary rap before starting his new life in Manhattan.

Dietl said the Fifth Ave. jeweler met Beaudoin three years ago in a Manhattan gym and the two became fast friends.

"They go out and have dinner, and the kid says, 'You know what? My father left me. I never had a father,'" said Dietl. "And Jeffrey starts talking about he never had a son, he always wanted a son."

Father figure Jeffrey agreed to let James legally take his last name and helped the younger man find a one-bedroom apartment in his posh East Side high rise, Dietl said.

He even subsidized the rent and found Rackover a job with global management consultants Willis Towers Watson. James celebrated Passover Seders with Jeffrey's parents in the elder man's apartment, according to Dietl.